JENNY MEADOWS GUEST COACH AT COMMUNITY ATHLETICS

Great Britain 800m athlete Jenny Meadows joined in at Wigan Athletic Community Trust’s Premier League 4 Sport athletics session at Robin Park Arena last week.

Jenny lead the session alongside her husband and athletics coach, Trevor Painter, not only getting the junior athletes to practice their sprints and running techniques, but looking at other track and field events too, including hurdles and the long jump.

As well as leading the session, Jenny made sure to go through some top tips and share her advice with the junior athletes.

Jenny said: “It's fantastic that the Premier League 4 Sport programme incorporates athletics, it shows how diverse the programme now is.

“Within Wigan there are limited opportunities to get involved with youth athletics as both the town's athletics clubs are not currently in the position to take on new members.

“The Premier League 4 Sport programme has therefore been able to fill this participation void by providing kids with the opportunity to get involved with the sport.

“The sessions are ran by my own coach, Trevor Painter, so whilst they are fun and development-based, the kids are also getting Olympic standard coaching.”

Premier League 4 Sport is a national programme, funded by the Premier League and Sport England, that offers opportunities to play several different Olympic sports; Wigan Athletic Community Trust provide sessions in athletics, badminton, basketball, hockey, netball, table tennis, tennis and volleyball.

Zac Taylor, Premier League 4 Sport Co-Ordinator, said: “It’s always great to have professional sportsmen and women join in with Premier League 4 Sport sessions, especially when it’s in their field.

“Having Jenny join and lead the athletics session really inspires the junior athletes who take part into pushing themselves harder and working to improve as much as they can.”